8 Outrageous Trades to Shake Up the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline
The Boston Red Sox already set the bar for outrageous MLB trades pretty darn high in trading away Rafael Devers earlier this month, but let's see if we can't put together a few more theoretical swaps that just might make enough sense to happen.
The cold hard truth of the impending trade deadline is that it could be mighty uneventful. The six teams who are effectively dead and buried—Rockies, White Sox, Pirates, A's, Nationals and Marlins—have a combined stockpile of very few trades assets worth fighting over. At any rate, all those "Would the Pirates trade Paul Skenes?" musings from earlier this season rather transparently were born from people trying to find anything on these basement dwellers worth getting excited about.
Trades are going to happen, though. Dozens of them, no doubt. And the teams willing to cook up something spicy stand to benefit in what will be a seller's market.
Not one of these trade ideas is necessarily rooted in any recent rumblings. But for each one, we'll provide some justification as to why each team might be willing to consider it.
Mitch Keller to the Mariners
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Seattle Mariners Receive: RHP Mitch Keller, UTIL Isiah Kiner-Falefa, OF Tommy Pham and Cash Considerations
Pittsburgh Pirates Receive: OF Lazaro Montes (Double-A Prospect, No. 2 in SEA farm system) and OF Jared Sundstrom (Double-A Prospect, No. 23 in SEA farm system)
What Makes It Outrageous: Pitchers with at least three remaining years of known salary figures rarely get traded. Neither do top 40 prospects. Could be a perfect storm, though.
Why the Mariners Would Do It
The M's already blew a golden opportunity last year when mediocre offense squandered an elite pitching campaign. But now they need to add pitching to make sure they don't also waste Cal Raleigh's historic season.
They could (and probably will) go the two-month rental route instead, given their budgetary restrictions and the fact that Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Matt Brash, Randy Arozarena and others are only going to get more expensive next year in arbitration eligibility. But this is an opportunity to show that they mean business.
The Kiner-Falefa and Pham rentals give them options in an offense that has been a four-man show.
Why the Pirates Would Do It
Unloading Keller's future salary ($16.9M in 2026, $18.4M in 2027, $20.4M in 2028) better enables Pittsburgh to hand Paul Skenes a blank check in what should be ongoing long-term extension negotiations.
Doing so while getting back a pair of promising outfield prospects would be huge, as Pittsburgh's outfield situation—both currently in the bigs and down on the farm—isn't exactly good.
Mason Miller to the Braves
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Atlanta Braves Receive: RHP Mason Miller
Athletics Receive: RHP Drue Hackenberg (Double-A prospect, No. 4 in ATL farm system), RHP Lucas Braun (Double-A prospect, No. 9 in ATL farm system) and RHP Rolddy Muñoz (Triple-A prospect, No. 20 in ATL farm system)
What Makes It Outrageous: Mason Miller trade speculation was all the rage last year, but maybe he's more gettable now amid a less productive season and with one year less of team control remaining? Also, how many times can the Braves win a trade with the A's? Atlanta already has the A's to thank for Matt Olson, Sean Murphy and Nick Allen, not to mention Tim Hudson once upon a time.
Why the Braves Would Do It
Raisel Iglesias is in the final year of his contract, and not pitching well at all. Atlanta has continued using him in high-leverage situations, though, largely due to the lack of serviceable Plans B.
Miller would be both a short-term replacement and ideally a long-term solution for a team that still views itself as a 2025 contender and that otherwise needs to address its closer situation this winter, anyway.
Why the Athletics Would Do It
Even with Miller pumping gas when save situations arise, the Athletics' pitching staff is doing its darndest to keep pace with the Rockies for most runs allowed this season. Balls flying out of Sutter Health Park left and right isn't helping matters, but the A's also have an ERA north of 5.00 away from home.
Despite what was a solid start through the first six weeks, it's clear this organization still hasn't completed its rebuild, in need of as many promising young pitchers as it can get its hands on.
Giving up a known commodity in Miller with 4.5 years of team control remaining might seem counterintuitive to that goal, but turning a guy who might give you 70 great innings in a season into two starters and a plausible closer is worth exploring.
Kris Bubic for Wilyer Abreu
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Boston Red Sox Receive: LHP Kris Bubic
Kansas City Royals Receive: OF Wilyer Abreu
What Makes It Outrageous: With 10 quality starts already under his belt, Bubic has been good enough for Cy Young consideration. Meanwhile, Abreu has been one of Boston's more reliable bats. Bubic has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining, and Abreu doesn't hit free agency until after the 2029 season. Both teams are kind of in no-man's land, too, both sitting a bit below .500 after mutual five-game losing streaks.
Why the Red Sox Would Do It
Aside from Garrett Crochet, Boston's pitching has been wildly disappointing. And with both Walker Buehler and Lucas Giolito likely to be out of the picture this offseason, a multi-year solution would be preferable.
Among the more than 150 pitchers with at least 120 innings of work since the beginning of last season, Bubic is one of four with a sub-2.50 FIP. The others are Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale—with Crochet not far behind at 2.62. Bubic isn't much of a household name at a national level, but he could be Boston's savior on the mound.
As far as parting with Abreu is concerned, the Rafael Devers trade didn't do much of anything to address Boston's surplus of quality outfielders, provided we're all in agreement that Roman Anthony is going to be a productive major leaguer sooner rather than later. They can trade Abreu away and still have a stacked five-man outfield of Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Rob Refsnyder and Masataka Yoshida (once he's healthy).
Why the Royals Would Do It
As good as Bubic has been since the beginning of last season?
That's how bad Kansas City's outfield has been.
Fifteen different players have made at least 20 plate appearances as a Royals outfielder since last April, and only Jonathan India (.759) has done so with an OPS north of .700. Even with India in the mix, Kansas City's outfield as a whole has been worth negative-1.5 bWAR this season.
This team desperately needs some bats other than Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia. Getting Abreu into the mix and eventually getting Jac Caglianone going could be a real game changer for this club for years to come.
Andrew Benintendi to the Padres
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San Diego Padres Receive: LF Andrew Benintendi and Cash Considerations
Chicago White Sox Receive: RHP Clark Candiotti (Single-A prospect, No. 24 in SDP farm system)
What Makes It Outrageous: At the moment, nothing really. However, over the previous two seasons, Benintendi was basically the poster boy of Chicago's descent into disaster; the signing of his five-year, $75M contract in January 2023 the unofficial straw that broke the rebuilding camel's back. It's just kind of hard to believe that he has some trade value now.
Why the Padres Would Do It
To put it lightly, left field has been an adventure for the Padres, with nine players combining for a sub-.600 OPS. They released Jason Heyward on Wednesday, and he had been the team leader in plate appearances in left. Gavin Sheets has been fine as the primary offering there in recent weeks. However, when he's in left, DH becomes the adventure for San Diego.
The moral of the story is they need to do something, and options are limited. Trading for Taylor Ward looked like a viable route until the Angels turned into possible buyers instead of sellers. Miami's Kyle Stowers could be an option, too, but the asking price for Benintendi (who has a .744 OPS for the year) would be much lower.
Why the White Sox Would Do It
Plain and simple, it's a salary dump.
The White Sox are almost certainly going to either trade away Luis Robert Jr. or decline his $20M club option for next season. It's also a near certainty their $10M mutual option with Martín Pérez won't be exercised, leaving Benintendi ($17.1M in 2026, $15.1M in 2027) as the only already known salary heading into next season.
Trading him away would allow them to fully, symbolically turn the page to whatever this franchise's next chapter may be. Getting a lottery-ticket prospect in the deal just makes it a little sweeter.
Byron Buxton to the Phillies
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Philadelphia Phillies Receive: CF Byron Buxton
Minnesota Twins Receive: RHP Mick Abel and C Alirio Ferrebus (Single-A prospect, No. 26 in PHI farm system)
What Makes It Outrageous: Since being taken No. 2 overall in the 2012 draft, Buxton has been a cornerstone piece of the Twins franchise. It'd simply be surreal to see him playing anywhere else, even in exchange for a potential budding ace.
Why the Phillies Would Do It
Dating back to before this time last year, there has been speculation that the Phillies might trade for an oft-injured center fielder, currently residing in the AL Central, with several years of an AAV north of $15M remaining on his contract.
It just might be Byron Buxton instead of Luis Robert Jr., as the latter is virtually untradeable at this point, both presently injured (hamstring) and batting .185 for the year.
Philadelphia's outfield has been darn near the worst in baseball, the quartet of Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh, Max Kepler and Johan Rojas worth a combined negative-0.7 bWAR this season. But Buxton is having a sensational season in Minnesota and could become the Phillies' primary DH for the three years left on his contract, should they fail to re-sign Kyle Schwarber this offseason.
2020 first-round pick Mick Abel would be a major chip to part with, but the Phillies do have an excess of starting pitching, with Andrew Painter presumably close to ready for his MLB debut and Aaron Nola presumably returning from the IL at some point.
Why the Twins Would Do It
It must be noted here that Buxton has a full no-trade clause through next season. If he wants to stay on a team rapidly falling out of the postseason picture over the past month—with an owner looking to sell the franchise, no less—then that's that; he can block any trade from happening.
If he's willing to relocate, though, Minnesota would A) unload about $50M owed through 2028, B) add a quality 23-year-old arm to a rotation that is currently a hot mess beyond Joe Ryan and C) open up a spot in center for the eventual (albeit, not particularly imminent) arrival of one of the top prospects in all of baseball, Walker Jenkins.
Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez to the Angels
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Los Angeles Angels Receive: 1B Josh Naylor and 3B Eugenio Suárez
Arizona Diamondbacks Receive: RHP Caden Dana (Triple-A Prospect, No. 2 in LAA farm system)
What Makes It Outrageous: More than anything, it's wild because of preseason expectations—when the Angels were +900 to make the playoffs while the Diamondbacks were -125. The Halos possibly buying from the selling Snakes was not on anyone's bingo card three months ago.
Why the Angels Would Do It
Even though both corner infielders would be two-month rentals, the collective upgrade would be massive for a team that has almost the worst on-base percentage in baseball. In fact, Suárez and Naylor would immediately become the two team leaders in OPS, sitting at .893 and .834, respectively.
Suárez would take over at the hot corner, where the Angels have a .677 OPS for the year. And if Naylor can still play corner outfield like he did from 2019-21, right field has been just as dire for the Halos with a .660 OPS.
Why the Diamondbacks Would Do It
Arizona is presently the biggest X-factor leading up to the trade deadline, still hanging around the playoff picture for now, but unlikely to stay there with Corbin Carroll recently joining what has become a long list of key Diamondbacks on the IL.
And with Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly slated for free agency while Corbin Burnes figures to miss almost all of 2026 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, they need some arms if they're going to even try to compete next season.
Dana entered this season as a top 100 prospect and is still highly regarded in spite of some brutal numbers at both the Triple-A and MLB level over the past two seasons. He's only 21, though, and could be a key piece of an MLB rotation as early as next season. If they wind up throwing in the towel on this season, adding Dana (while getting about $9M in prorated salary off the books) would be one heck of a return for a pair of expiring contracts.
Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera to the Cubs
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Chicago Cubs Receive: RHP Sandy Alcantara and RHP Edward Cabrera
Miami Marlins Receive: OF Kevin Alcantara (Triple-A Prospect, No. 3 in CHC farm system), IF Jefferson Rojas (Single-A Prospect, No. 4 in CHC farm system), RHP Jaxon Wiggins (Double-A Prospect, No. 8 in CHC farm system), RHP Ryan Gallagher (Single-A Prospect, No. 17 in CHC farm system) and IF Yahil Melendez (Single-A Prospect, No. 24 in CHC farm system)
What Makes It Outrageous: The sheer magnitude of it. It's not quite akin to Juan Soto and Josh Bell for what felt like the entire Padres farm system three years ago, but five prospects for two big league pitchers would certainly be a landscape shifter. But it ought to take a near king's ransom to get arguably the two best Marlins, with Alcantara signed through 2027 while Cabrera will be arbitration-eligible through 2028.
Why the Cubs Would Do It
Well, they need starting pitching.
Of the six Cubs who have made at least five starts this season, only Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd have a positive bWAR. And even at that, Imanaga has an xFIP (4.82) nearly double his ERA (2.54) suggesting near-imminent regression, while Boyd has already pitched more innings than in any other season since 2019, so, you know, fingers crossed for another four months of good health.
And while we certainly wouldn't call this a "World Series or Bust" season, after all they gave the Astros this winter for what might be just one season of both Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly, they certainly entered the season with an urgency to win now.
Take a rotation of Imanaga, Alcantara and ideally a healthy Boyd or Cabrera into October with this lineup and they've got more than a puncher's chance at it.
Why the Marlins Would Do It
With the exception of Cal Quantrill, every single player on Miami's roster is under team control through at least 2027.
However, they're already toast this year, highly unlikely to contend next year and even 2027 feels like a stretch with what they currently have.
The Marlins do already have five of MLB.com's top 100 prospects, and would be adding two more top 75 prospects if they did this trade, plus adding three more lottery-ticket types who could be big leaguers in two or three years.
At that point, they become a bit interesting, as even after subtracting Alcantara and Cabrera, they'd still have a rotation of Eury Perez, Max Meyer, Braxton Garrett and Ryan Weathers, with hopefully Thomas White and/or Robby Snelling contributing by next season.
The Obligatory Outrageous 3-Team Swap
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San Francisco Giants Receive: RHP Zach Eflin (from BAL), 1B/OF Ryan O'Hearn (from BAL) and Cash Considerations (from CLE)
Cleveland Guardians Receive: CF Cedric Mullins (from BAL), RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (from BAL), RHP Gregory Soto (from BAL) and OF Jerar Encarnacion (from SFG)
Baltimore Orioles Receive: LHP Carson Whisenhunt (Triple-A Prospect, No. 2 in SFG farm system), OF/1B C.J. Kayfus (Triple-A Prospect, No. 5 in CLE farm system) and LHP Doug Nikhazy (Triple-A Prospect, No. 20 in CLE farm system)
What Makes It Outrageous: Mid-season three-team trades are as rare as blue moons, each of which occurs every two or three years. We got one last year with Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech landing with the Dodgers. There was also one with at least some degree of World Series implications in 2022 when the Astros, Orioles and Rays got one done.
Why the Giants Would Do It
If one thing is for certain heading into the deadline, it's that the Giants are going to add at least one starting pitcher. They didn't trade for Rafael Devers just to let Landon Roupp, Hayden Birdsong and the artist formerly known as Justin Verlander pitch them to narrowly missing the postseason.
Eflin's ERA has ballooned after a few recent duds, but he's still maybe the best rental pitcher on this year's trade block—and making his home starts at Oracle Park the rest of the way ought to help correct his sudden inability to keep the ball in the yard.
Getting O'Hearn in the deal, too, could be the final piece that pushes their lineup over the top into serious contention.
Why the Guardians Would Do It
Though Cleveland has spent basically the entire season hovering between .500 and a few games above it, it has a negative-40 run differential and needs quite a bit of help if it's serious about getting back to the ALCS for a second straight October.
Some of that help will come in the form of Shane Bieber possibly making his season debut shortly after the All-Star Break, and maybe getting John Means onto the mound before the season ends. However, adding another starting pitcher is a near-must, as is adding at least one outfielder to what is presently a "Steven Kwan or Bust" disaster.
Money is always tight for Cleveland, but they'd only be taking on about $9M in this trade. That should be feasible.
Why the Orioles Would Do It
For as woefully far from expectations as this season has been for the O's, they aren't woefully out of the playoff picture, only seven games back in the wild card race. And let's not forget they could be getting all of Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, Albert Suarez, Cade Povich, Ryan Mountcastle and Tyler O'Neill back from the IL at some point around the trade deadline.
As such, they'll probably put off a fire sale for as long as possible, and then try to do it in one fell swoop.
And for giving up five two-month rentals, they'd be getting back quite the stockpile of Triple-A prospects who could help them get right back into contention again in 2026. Kayfus is raking and could immediately take the place of O'Hearn. Both Whisenhunt and Nikhazy have struggled this season, but those former second-round picks could be in the mix for back-of-the-rotation jobs next year.
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